Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I think the title of this movie was quite a spoiler so I actually pretty much knew what to expect from this flick but since I kept hearing some pretty good things about it, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after watching the damned thing, I still don’t think it was terribly original but, still, most of it worked fine. First of all, I didn’t realize Kumail Nanjiani had done so much work before this movie but the guy was really funny here. On top of that, he had some great chemistry with Zoe Kazan and it’s too bad she had to disappear through half of the movie but I guess that was the whole point here. Furthermore, even if it followed the blueprint of the most basic romantic comedies, the whole thing still felt mostly genuine. In my case, my father was immigrant, I’m an immigrant myself, my wife has been heavily chronically ill for the last 10 years so there were many elements that were quite relatable to me. There was one thing that bothered me though and it was the huge emotional switch made by Holly Hunter’s character. At first, I thought she was seriously ignorant to judge him like that even though she had basically no knowledge of his culture or of him as a human-being. Then, suddenly during his stand-up act, she completely switched gears and became his biggest defender which was also rather annoying. Eventually, the more I think about it, the more I believe that her reaction was actually understandable in the sense that, as a parent who might lose her child, she had to vent her frustration/anger/sorrow on someone and why not go for the guy who had broken her daughter’s heart? Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a really solid romantic comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I was really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though Christmas movies can sometimes be a total drag to watch, this one had a decent concept. Indeed, I really liked the idea of this group of friends going out every year around Christmas to have some fun together. Still, even if the idea had some potential, it could have been better developed though and the end-result felt above all rather random. For example, it was very promising when Seth Rogen’s character got all these drugs provided by his wife but, unfortunately, he turned out to be the only guy getting completely f*cked up. As a result, this character spent most of the movie completely high, which was actually pretty funny, while his buddies remained pretty much sober through the whole thing. I’m not saying that they should have been completely sh*t faced through the whole duration but I thought it wasn’t really convincing that they wouldn’t get high together. Otherwise, all the three guys had some personal issues to deal with, which was rather expected, but none of these sub-plots were really entertaining though. Still, concerning the jokes, even if it was never really hilarious, it was usually more hit than miss and the damned thing was usually quite funny. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m usually not a huge fan of movies dealing with Christmas, this one was decent enough and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it has won the Golden Kalf of the best Dutch movie of the year, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, it has been a while since I have seen such an obscure movie. Obviously, no one else saw the damned thing on Listal but even on IMDb only 60 people have seen it so far. Well, I have to admit that it was pretty much impossible for me to really judge this movie. Indeed, since Dutch is not my mother tongue (it is actually only my 3^rd language), movies in Dutch can be challenging but I usually handle them fine, even without subtitles. However, in this case, they went for some dialect called ‘Nederduits’, some kind of combination of German and Dutch, and without subtitles, well, it was pretty much impossible to understand what the hell the characters were talking about. Concerning the story itself, I still managed to follow more or less what was going on, especially the relationship between the various characters were fairly easily to understand. There were also some surrealist moments that did remind me of Alex van Warmerdam’s work. However, towards the end, they completely switched gears and the whole thing became some kind of nightmarish mayhem during which 5 characters were brutally killed involving a truck, a forklift, a chainsaw, some dogs and a very young girl with a rifle. Anyway, to conclude, to be honest, even if with some subtitles, I’m not sure I would have cared more for this movie but I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Vanessa Hudgens, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though this movie apparently didn’t get much love when it was released, I have to admit that I was actually quite impressed by Hudgens who easily delivered her best performance so far. Rosario Dawson was also strong in this flick, in fact, she was even quite terrifying in the few scenes that she showed up. Concerning the rest of the movie, even if it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was decent enough up until the end though. Indeed, in my opinion, the last act completely derailed the whole thing. For some dubious reasons, they brought back the father which was just a huge mistake. I mean, so far, the whole thing was pretty bleak, gritty and realistic but, suddenly, it was turned into some kind of fairy tale. On top of that, I thought it was actually rather infuriating to see this guy dropping this poor girl with her punk look when she was desperately in need for help and then coming back when she was looking like some Disney princess and when everything looked much more on the bright side for her. Finally, to make this turn of event even more pointless than it already was, they actually doubled back as she decided eventually to stay at the shelter after all. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look though thanks to a very strong performance by Vanessa Hudgens.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, concerning the tone, they went for something slightly whimsical and realistic at the same time which can be tricky but it did work in this case. Indeed, it never became really cheesy but, the more I think about it, they still did slightly sugar-coat the whole thing though. The best example would be when Julian gave his excuses after getting his ass kicked by the school principal. I mean, the idea that all kids are actually kind deep inside was really cute and appealing but I’m afraid it doesn’t really work like that in the real world though. Still, even if the story didn’t turn out to be anything really ground-breaking, I did like the approach they chose though. Indeed, instead of only focusing on Auggie and maybe his parents, they decided to show the ripple effect of Auggie’s life on the other people around him which was quite refreshing. The only exception was Miranda though. Not that she was not interesting but since she was Auggie’s sister best friend so her link with the main character was too thin or too remote from him. I mean, it could have worked but then they should have spent more than only 10 mins on this storyline. Eventually, the two characters who also could have been developed were the parents played by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson and, to be honest, I didn’t think that they had much chemistry together. Anyway, to conclude, it might sound as if I didn’t like the damned thing but it was actually not bad at all and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but it was pretty late and I wanted to watch something short to make sure I didn’t go to bed terribly late. On top of that, I always had a weak spot for Jerry Seinfeld so I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, watching the damned thing made me feel even more guilty about the fact that I have never seen enough episodes of ‘Seinfeld’. I always thought that Jerry Seinfeld was really funny and it was pretty neat to see him for the first time around doing a stand-up show like this one. Concerning the jokes themselves, to be honest, I thought it was pretty random and I think it would have been interesting if there would have been a specific theme through the whole show. For example, the best bits were about when he was talking about his life as a married man and, in my opinion, he could have done the whole show around this theme. It wasn’t a deal-breaker though, most of it was really sharp and funny and there were only a very few missers. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was pretty entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you’re interested in Jerry Seinfeld’s work.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it is probably the best movie I have seen released by Netflix so far this year (it is actually a rather low bar), I was still not really impressed though. I mean, it was definitely a decent watch but I’m afraid I had already seen too many similar movies which were vastly superior. Still, the makers definitely managed to describe a harsh and grim reality, a world where basically virtually no one can succeed, even the kid who joined in the army to get out of the hood. On the down side, I think they did overuse the mixed chronology though. I mean, some of the flashbacks did work, especially when the main character was just a small kid, but the back and forth in the present time before and after the murder was much less convincing. There was also the choice of making the main character rather unremarkable. On one hand, it made the whole thing more realistic and it was rather refreshing that, for once, the main character didn’t turn out to be someone with an exceptional talent who gets crushed by his merciless environment as it is very usually the case in this genre. However, on the other hand, it was rather difficult to root for a guy who didn’t have a lot of redeeming features. At least, the acting was strong thanks to some really solid performances by Ashton Sanders and Jeffrey Wright. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Asghar Farhadi, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after his French movie (‘Le passé’) and before his Spanish movie (‘Todos lo saben’), Farhadi went back to Iran to make this flick which turned out to be another critical success. Indeed, even though it is admirable that the Iranian master would try to direct some movies abroad, to be honest, the movies made in his home country were so much better. As usual, I didn’t know anything about the story before watching the damned thing and I have to admit that it took me a while to get into it but, pretty much like ‘Jodaeiye Nader az Simin’, it turned out to be another fascinating mix of a thriller with a realistic drama. Indeed, the core of the story was dealing with what did happen to Rana which was basically some pretty basic thriller setup. However, in the contrary to your average US thriller, there was no intrusive music cue telling what you should expect or what you should feel, in fact, there was no music whatsoever. Above all, what was so interesting was the fact that there were no good guys or bad guys. I mean, for example, you could argue that Emad was sometimes acting pretty much like a douchebag but, considering the circumstances, it was actually rather understandable and, in fact, it was completely relatable to me. Eventually, in my opinion, this movie was about the fact that the aftermath following a dramatic event can be just as or even more traumatic than the actual event itself. Anyway, Farhadi’s movies display such an indepth analysis of what it means to be human, it is just fascinating to behold and this movie was another great example. To conclude, it was an incredibly rewarding movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Asghar Farhadi’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Anthony Hopkins and since it was directed by Richard Attenborough, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I had really a hard time to care about the damned thing. First of all, I have to admit that I had no idea what this movie was about before watching it. Eventually, it turned out to be a biopic about C.S. Lewis but, instead of focusing on his work such as the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ books, they focused on how he fell in love with his wife. And that was already the first issue, was it really the most interesting thing that happened to the renowned author? Obviously, the idea was to focus on a seemingly very intelligent man who has figured out many theories about God and the meaning of life and who, suddenly, sees his life turned upside down when he finally discovered love. While this concept might seem intriguing (apparently, this movie was very well received by the critics when it was released), I can’t say I was really blown away though. I guess it is a matter of taste but, as far as I’m concerned, the process of seeing a really smart man struggling with his feelings for more than 1 hour before finally becoming aware that he was actually in love was actually rather tedious. At least, there is no doubt that Anthony Hopkins gave here another really solid performance. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Anthony Hopkins’s work.